Edible bean line &lt;11278&gt; (COWBOY)

ABSTRACT

An edible bean seed designated as &lt;11278&gt; or COWBOY, a sample of the edible bean deposited under accession no. PI 678951 is disclosed. Methods of using the edible bean seed designated as &lt;11278&gt; or COWBOY for breeding new varieties of bean seed are also disclosed, as well as seeds of the edible bean seed designated as &lt;11278&gt; or COWBOY.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/315,908, filed Mar. 31, 2016, the contents of the entirety of which are incorporated by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of plant breeding, and more specifically to edible bean line <11278> (COWBOY).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the United States, there is increasing concern over the consumption of high sugar and high fat foods by the population. An alarming increase in obesity among the citizens in the United States exists since many people in the United States are overweight due to a lack of exercise and poor eating habits.

Beans and peas are listed under both the Vegetables, and the Meats and Beans categories of the Dietary Guidelines Pyramid, thus, emphasizing the healthy nature of legumes in the diet. In addition to the emphasis on lower fat and lower sugar diets, beneficial effects of legumes are becoming apparent. Legumes are packed with fiber and protein, as well as being a good source of numerous vitamins and minerals. Legumes also have a low glycemic index and may help play a role in maintaining normal blood sugar levels; increasing digestive health; and even possibly improving heart health. Yet, legumes are an underutilized food in the United States diet.

With the increased awareness of the problems of obesity, poor eating habits, and the increased awareness of the health benefits of legumes, there exists a need for healthier food products and foodstuffs that provide the beneficial nutritional effects of legumes, as well as a consistent crop supply of such legumes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In each of its various embodiments, the present invention helps fulfill these needs and discloses a pinto bean variety for use in breeding new bean varieties, as well as a foodstuff.

In one embodiment, an edible bean seed designated as COWBOY, a sample of the edible bean seed deposited under accession no. PI 678951, is disclosed.

In another embodiment, methods of using the edible bean seed COWBOY for breeding new varieties of bean seed are disclosed. Seeds of the edible bean seed designated as COWBOY are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the breeding history of edible bean line <11278> (COWBOY).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an edible bean line designated as <11278> or (COWBOY), is disclosed. As used herein, the term COWBOY will be used to refer to edible bean variety <11278>. Also disclosed are bean plants having the physiological and morphological characteristics of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY. Parts of the bean plant including, without limitation, pollen, ovules, pods and cells, as well as uses of such parts in breeding are further disclosed.

In another embodiment, seed of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY is disclosed. Such seed may be an essentially homogenous population of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY, wherein such seed of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY is essentially free of other seed. Accordingly, the seed of the present invention comprises at least 95% or more of seed of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY.

In yet a further embodiment, tissue culture of regenerable cells of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY are disclosed. Such tissue culture may be capable of expressing all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY, and be capable of regenerating plants having the same genotype of plants of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY. The tissue culture may be obtained from embryos, meristems, cotyledons, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, flower, seed and/or stalks.

In an additional embodiment, breeding methods for producing edible bean seeds, plants and/or pods using the edible bean line designated as COWBOY of the present invention as a parent are disclosed. Such breeding methods may be used to prepare hybrid edible bean seed or plants or inbred edible bean seed or plants, where seed ultimately produced using the edible bean line designated as COWBOY as at least one of the parents are included within the scope of this invention.

In one embodiment, methods of crossing the edible bean line designated as COWBOY with itself of a second plant and the seeds and plants produced by such methods are disclosed. Such methods may be used for propagating edible bean line designated as COWBOY, or can be used to produce hybrid dry bean seeds and the plants grown therefrom.

In a further embodiment, the present invention discloses a process for producing beans comprising obtaining a plant of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY, cultivating the plant to maturity, and collecting and/or harvesting beans from the mature plant. Such beans may be used ultimately as a foodstuff, as seed or as parent in a breeding program.

The present invention further discloses methods and compositions relating to plants, seeds and derivatives of edible bean line designated as COWBOY. This line has an erect growth habit, is indeterminate, has guides that are medium to long and has no ability to climb. COWBOY is a pinto bean variety exhibiting traits including, but not limited to larger, more desirable seed size, and improved overall seed size stability when compared to other edible bean lines. Observations and seed increase show that edible bean line designated as COWBOY shows uniformity and stability, without variants.

Origin and Breeding History.

The edible bean line designated as COWBOY exhibits improved traits including, without limitation, a larger, more desirable seed size, tighter range of seed counts and improved overall seed stability when compared to other edible bean lines. The development of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY can be summarized as follows. A cross was made between pinto variety ‘La Paz’ as the male parent and the pinto variety ‘Sinaloa’ as the female parent. The cross was made during the spring in Year 1 in the greenhouse. The edible bean line designated as COWBOY was derived from this cross.

The breeding history of edible bean line designated as COWBOY is shown in FIG. 1.

TABLE 1 The following Table indicates the selections used to produce the edible bean line designated as COWBOY. Gener- Bulk Single Plant Year Location ation (lbs) Selections Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F1 <3 lb Year 1 Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F2 <3 lbs Year 2 Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F3 7 single plant Year 3 selections Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F4 2 single plant Year 4 selections Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F5 2 single plant Year 5 selections Summer Twin Falls, ID-field F6 <2 lbs Year 6 Summer Nampa, ID Field F7 39 lbs Year 7 Summer Nampa, ID-field F8 789 lbs Year 8 Summer Idaho-Field F9 Commercial Seed Year 9 Production Summer Idaho-Field F10 Commercial Seed Year 10 Production

-   -   Selections were done in the F3, F4, and F5 generations as         follows. In the F3 generation, there was segregation for         architecture, disease resistance, maturity, and seed size.         Single plant selections were made for upright architecture, high         pod set, yield, and early maturity (maturing earlier than La         Paz). In the F4 generation, single plant selections were made         for upright architecture, high pod set, yield, and early         maturity. In the F5 generation, single plant selections were         made for upright architecture, high pod set, yield, and early         maturity. Such selections resulted in the new edible bean line         designated as COWBOY, which was observed to be uniform, stable,         and substantially free of any variants within commercially         acceptable limits since the F6 generation. It is known that a         small percentage of off-types may occur for a characteristic of         edible bean line designated as COWBOY during multiplication.     -   Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of Edible Bean         Line Designated as COWBOY.     -   Table 2 depicts the physiological and morphological         characteristics of edible bean line designated as COWBOY.

TABLE 2 Characteristic Edible bean line designated as COWBOY Market Class Pinto Maturity Medium (90-100 days) Days from planting to 93 harvest maturity Plant Habit Type Erect growth habit-indeterminate, guides medium to long with no ability to climb Average height of Not measured mature plant Pod position High (lower pods not touching soil surface) Adaptability to machine Adapted harvest Lodging resistance Good Leaflet morphology Leaflet Wrinkled and semiglossy Shape Ovate Apex of leaflet Acuminate Base of leaflet Obtuse Flower color and days to bloom Color of standard White Color of wings White Color of keel White Days to 50% bloom 54 Pod Morphology Green color pattern Solid Mature color pattern Striped Green primary color Green Mature primary color Yellow Green color modifier Medium Mature color modifier Light medium Green secondary color None Mature secondary color Red to purple when dry Green cross section shape Pear Mature cross section shape Pear Green pod curvature Slightly curved Mature pod curvature Slightly curved Green pod beak orientation Curved downward Mature pod beak orientation Curved downward Green constrictions Slight Mature constrictions Slight Average number of seeds/pod  5.6 Seed Color Semishiny and polychrome Primary color Tan Secondary color Brown Color pattern Mottled Hilar ring Present Hilar ring color Yellow Seed Shape and Weight Shape of seed taken from Cuboid middle of pod Dry seed weight in g/100 g 35 Seeds (adjusted to 12% moisture) Anthocyanin Pigmentation* Flowers Absent Leaves Absent Stems Present, faint Petioles Absent Pods Present Peduncles Absent Seeds Present Nodes Absent Known Disease Reaction None

-   -   COWBOY has shown to have a more desirable seed size when         compared to other edible bean pinto variety lines. Over the         course of 4 years, seed counts for COWBOY were measured and         compared to another closely related pinto bean variety, Sinaloa.         The COWBOY average seed count was 1,292 seeds per pound, while         the other variety showed an average seed count of 1,316 seed per         pound. The COWBOY seed variety of the present invention has a         better overall seed stability when compared to Sinaloa. COWBOY's         seed size had a standard deviation of 143.4 compared to         Sinaloa's standard deviation of 179.1

COWBOY also has a tighter range of seed counts with only 520 seeds/lb from the smallest to largest compared to Sinaloa which had a range of 605 seeds/lb from smallest to largest. In addition, the Sinaloa bean variety has had a problem with smaller seed sizes and the COWBOY variety has improved upon this. COWBOYs smallest seed size was 1576 seeds/lb compared to Sinaloa's smallest seed size at 1639 seeds/lb.

-   -   Deposit information.     -   A deposit of the edible bean line designated as COWBOY of the         present invention was made with the National Center for Genetic         Resources Preservation, Fort Collins, Colo. The date of deposit         was Nov. 2, 2016. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions         upon the deposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to         meet all of the requirements of 37 C.F.R. § 1.801-1.809. The         accession number for the deposited seeds of edible bean line         designated as COWBOY is PI 678951. The deposit will be         maintained in the depository for a period of 30 years, or 5         years after the last request, or for the enforceable life of the         patent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if necessary         during such period.     -   The present invention has been described with reference to         certain exemplary embodiments, legume products, compositions and         uses thereof. However, it will be recognized by those of         ordinary skill in the art that various substitutions,         modifications or combinations of any of the exemplary         embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and         scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not limited by         the description of the exemplary embodiment, but rather by the         appended claims as originally filed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An edible bean seed designated as COWBOY, a sample of the edible bean seed deposited under accession no. PI
 678951. 2. A plant produced by growing the edible bean seed of claim
 1. 3. Pollen of the plant of claim
 2. 4. An edible bean plant having all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the edible bean plant of claim
 2. 5. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of the edible bean plant of claim
 2. 6. The tissue culture of claim 5, wherein the cells are obtained from a plant part selected from the group consisting of leaf, pollen, embryo, meristematic cell, root, root tip, anther, stomatal cell, flower, seed, stem, pod and combinations of any thereof.
 7. An edible bean plant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 6, having all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of an edible bean plant grown from an edible bean seed designated as COWBOY, a sample of the edible bean seed deposited under accession no. PI
 678951. 8. A method for producing an edible bean seed comprising crossing two edible bean plants and harvesting the resulting edible bean seed, wherein at least one of the two edible bean plants is the edible bean plant of claim
 2. 9. A method for producing a hybrid edible bean seed comprising crossing the edible bean plant of claim 2 with a second edible bean plant and harvesting the resulting hybrid edible bean seed.
 10. A plurality of the edible bean seeds of claim
 1. 11. A method of planting a field, comprising planting the plurality of the edible bean seeds of claim 10 in the field.
 12. A process for producing edible beans for consumption, comprising processing the plurality of the edible bean seeds of claim 10 such that the plurality of the edible bean seeds are suitable for consumption.
 13. A method for producing an edible bean seed designated as a COWBOY-derived edible bean seed, comprising: crossing a plant of edible bean seed designated as COWBOY, a sample of the seed deposited under accession number PI 678951, with a second edible bean plant to yield progeny edible bean seed; and growing the progeny edible bean seed to yield COWBOY-derived edible bean plants and allowing seed of COWBOY-derived edible beans plants to form.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second edible bean plant is transgenic.
 15. An A edible bean designated as COWBOY-derived edible bean seed produced by a method comprising: crossing a plant of edible bean seed designated as COWBOY, a sample of the seed deposited under accession number PI 678951, with a second edible bean plant to yield progeny edible bean seed. 